Now is what matters and India is ‘hot’ as never before
Tuesday, March 11 2003 16:03 Hrs (IST)

Johannesburg: Saurav Ganguly's India was so out of tune mentally before the World Cup it hired noted sports psychologist Sandy Gordon to lift its spirits for the tournament.

Gordon gave the team a slogan "now or never!" to recite at every team meeting and during its now famous huddle in the middle at the fall of every wicket.

The simple recipe for success has worked wonders as the Indians romped through to the semi-finals with seven straight wins after losing to reigning champion Australia at Centurion on February 15.

This was clearly not the same team that lost both the Test and One-day series in New Zealand in December-January or the One-day series at home to the West Indies a month earlier.

Few have exemplified the now-or-never determination better than veteran seamer Javagal Srinath, playing in his fourth and last World Cup, whose 4 for 35 against Sri Lanka on Monday fashioned a remarkable 183-run win.

Copyright AFP 2001

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